Boxoffice Pro - September 2019

DIGITAL TICKETING
BY DANIEL LORIA AND REBECCA PAHLE
THE FUTURE OF
THE DIGITAL BOX
OFFICE
HOW THE EVOLUTION OF E-COMMERCE IS
IMPACTING THE MOVIE THEATER BUSINESS
>> There was a time, not that long ago, when audiences flocked to
newspapers to plan their nights out at the movies. They’d scan pages
of ads, squint through an index-sized listing of locations, and settle
on the ideal show time. You could always call the theater itself or dial
the magic numbers that led to that warm, welcoming voice exclaiming,
“Hello, and welcome to Moviefone!” but for decades newspapers
were the go-to source for movie listings and show times. The internet
changed all that, ushering in a new era in which exhibitors could
directly interact with their patrons.
The early days of e-commerce at the movies
were defined by the emergence of two third-party
ticketing websites, MovieTickets.com and
Fandango. They offered the industry a simple and
convenient solution: aggregated show times and
ticket purchasing for partner theaters. These digital
players pioneered cinema e-commerce in the
United States, virtually unrivaled as most exhibitors
saw little need to develop their own in-house
ticketing solutions.
“E-commerce was still in its infancy in 2000,
even as we approached the peak of the dot-com
bubble,” explains Dave Stonehill, who has had a
front-row seat to the development. Stonehill is
one of the founders of CinemaSource, a pioneer
in cinema show time collection that eventually
formed the basis of what is known today known as
The Boxoffice Company (formerly Webedia Movies
Pro), the corporate parent of Boxoffice Pro.
“Theater chains back then, even the largest ones,
didn’t have the knowledge or the resources to
THE BOXOFFICE COMPANY
Show time discovery on Google can
now lead to ticket purchases through
referral ticketing deep links.
32 SEPTEMBER 2019